page_title: Gol Transportes Aéreos
section_title: Early years
hierarchical_section_title: Gol Transportes Aéreos / History / Early years
caption_attribution_description: English: At Sao Paulo Congonhas
context_page_description: GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A B3: GOLL3, GOLL4 / NYSE: GOL is a Brazilian low-cost airline based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. According to the National Civil Aviation Agency of Brazil, between January and December 2019 GOL had 37.7% of the domestic and 3.8% of the international market shares in terms of passengers per kilometer flown, making it the largest domestic and third largest international airline in Brazil. The company slogan is Portuguese: Nova Gol. Novos tempos no ar., "The new Gol. New times in the air."
  GOL competes in Brazil and other South American countries primarily with LATAM Brasil, and Azul. It also owns the brand Varig, although now that name refers to what is informally known as the "new" Varig, founded in 2006, not to the extinct "old" Varig airline, founded in 1927.
  GOL operates a growing domestic and international scheduled network. Its main hubs are São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport, Rio de Janeiro–Galeão International Airport and Tancredo Neves International Airport near Belo Horizonte. GOL also has focus operations at Rio de Janeiro-Santos Dumont Airport, São Paulo-Congonhas Airport, Salgado Filho International Airport in Porto Alegre
context_section_description: The airline was established in 2000 and started operations on January 15, 2001 with a flight from Brasília to São Paulo. It is a subsidiary of the Brazilian conglomerate Grupo Áurea, based in Minas Gerais state, which has other transportation interests, including Brazil's largest long-distance bus company. Grupo Áurea in turn is owned by the Constantino family. Constantino Júnior was responsible for building the business next to the vice president of the company, David Barioni.
  On June 24, 2004 GOL launched simultaneous initial public offerings on the New York and São Paulo stock exchanges. In 2007, GOL was owned by AeroPar Participações (75.5%), Venture (17.6%), American International Group (5.4%) and Air France-KLM (1,5%).  The growth in GOL's stock price made the Constantino family a member of the Forbes magazine billionaire list in 2005.
  In 2007, GOL was supposed to begin a code-share agreement with TAP Portugal, opening the European market to the Brazilian airline, and the internal Brazilian market to the Portuguese airline (the largest foreign airline in Brazil). Instead, TAP Portugal chose to cooperate with TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aéreas).
  On February 24, 2010 GOL announced it was in "advanced talks" to join the Oneworld alliance, which would allow it to catch up with rival TAM, a recent member of Star Alliance. However, on October 6, 2010, the airline announced a change in position by denying any interest in joining an alliance, preferring to remain independent and to establish a "patchwork of code-sharing agreements." Following this trend, on September 28, 2011 GOL and Aerolíneas Argentinas announced the intention to implement a codeshare, feeder and frequent flyer programs agreement on a date yet to be announced and pending approval from the governments of Brazil and Argentina.
  On March 18, 2010 GOL unveiled the expansion of its maintenance base located at Belo Horizonte/Confins - Tancredo Neves International Airport. Originally opened in 2006 with the capacity to service 60 aircraft per year (mainly Boeing 737 and 767), the expansion allowed GOL to increase the number to 120. GOL later started also using the base to service aircraft from other airlines, and as of 2013 it also serviced airplanes from Azul Brazilian Airlines and Copa Airlines.
  On December 23, 2010, GOL Airlines started an operational partnership with Brazilian carrier Passaredo Linhas Aéreas. The agreement was rescinded on July 31, 2014, when Passaredo established a similar interline agreement with TAM Airlines instead.
  On December 7, 2011, GOL announced the intention of Delta Air Lines to purchase 3% of its shares. The agreement also includes the creation of mutual code-share flights, alignment of frequent flyer benefits and transfer of GOL's Boeing 767s lease agreements to Delta.
  On October 1, 2012, GOL confirmed a firm order of 60 Boeing 737 MAXs. References did not specify the type of MAX aircraft.
  On October 6, 2012, GOL started seasonal operations to Miami and Orlando, available for Smiles account holders and originating in Brazil only. Technically, they are considered charter flights, although they are not necessarily part of an inclusive tour package; the use of miles or miles plus money is mandatory, as well as a minimum 7-day stay at the destination.
  In February 2014, Air France–KLM announced it would invest $100 million in GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes in advance of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
  Some disagreement exists as to whether GOL is a low-cost carrier. In 2014, GOL was ranked the second best low-cost airline in South America after Azul. GOL refers to itself as a low-cost carrier, but it is increasingly not regarded as such. According to UFRJ specialist Elton Fernandes, "GOL's costs are not very different from those of TAM Airlines. People are accustomed to calling GOL low-cost, but GOL is not that. It is not even low-fare anymore."
  On 26 September 2019, Delta announced that it will exit its minority stake in GOL, following Delta acquiring 20% stake of LATAM Airlines Group.
caption: The Boeing 737-700 airplane used in GOL's second commercial flight, showing the company's brand.
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